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The Enduring Legacy of Elijah McClain’s Tragic Death
By Robert Sanchez | September 2021
In summer 2020, the nation’s attention turned to the killing of a 23-year-old Aurora man. His death prompted a flood of more than 8,500 letters from outside the state of Colorado—all begging Governor Jared Polis for justice. We read every one.
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The Dire Consequences of Pleading Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity in Colorado
By Daliah Singer | November 2021
People found not guilty by reason of insanity are sent to Colorado’s mental health hospital ostensibly for treatment. Here, a look inside one man’s three-year-long struggle for freedom.
The Inherent Dangers of Backcountry Skiing in Colorado’s Mountains
By Tracy Ross | January 2021
What can a fatal backcountry skiing accident on Jones Pass, on the west side of the Continental Divide, teach us about Colorado’s snowcat outfitters? And can these quintessential Centennial State adventures ever truly be safe?
After Two Teen Suicides Last Year, How Will Summit County Address an Ongoing Mental Health Crisis?
By Devon O’Neil | August 2021
A tragic stretch in April 2020 shone a light on the mental health issues facing the mountain community. With the new school year set to start, area residents are continuing to heal while asking themselves how they can learn from the past.
Comas, Catfights, and Clothes: An Oral History of Dynasty
By Spencer Campbell | February 2021
Forty years after Denver’s most infamous fictional family first rocked the small screen, the stars of the scandal-happy primetime soap reveal the true stories behind America’s guiltiest pleasure.
The Untold Stories of the Denver Hospital that Pioneered “Parentectomy”—and Saved Children’s Lives
By Heather L. Hughes | March 2021
From 1940 until the early 1980s, hundreds of children who suffered from severe asthma were separated from their parents and lived at the Children’s Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver. Decades later, former patients talk about the life-altering experience.
Inside the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s Bold Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Robert Sanchez | December 2021
How the Ute Mountain Ute tribe’s race to protect its sovereign nation from the COVID-19 pandemic transformed its southwestern Colorado reservation, members, and leadership—forever.
Review: The Holly and Black Life as Drama
By Lisa Kennedy | May 2021
Like The Wire, Julian Rubinstein’s new book The Holly mines Black violence for the sake of drama—rendering the larger Park Hill community largely invisible.
Vaccine-Hesitant Coloradans Could Prolong the COVID-19 Misery
By Daliah Singer | March 2021
Long a stronghold for the medical freedom set, Colorado’s poor immunization rates might make public health officials’ COVID-19 inoculation goals tougher to reach.
A Megadrought Is Hurting Colorado Farmers
By Jonathan Thompson | October 2021
Southwestern Colorado’s Mancos Valley had long been thought of as an agricultural promised land, seemingly resistant to the ravages of climate change. There had been dry years, of course. But, along with acres and acres of crops, the blissful notion of relative immunity perished in 2021.
